Maildir question before conversion

[bsasninja]

I would like to convert to the maildir format.
Im running WHM 10.8.0 cPanel 10.9.0-R57 with CentOS 4.4 i686 - WHM X v3.1.0 - Exim 4.52
Running cppop and uwimap. Running spamassassin on the server in some accounts. Using dwmail as webmail.

I have 1200 accounts on my server? how much time the conversion takes? Is secure? cause I read that some people after the conversion couldnt get the emails working (sending or receiving)
If this happens what steps should be taken??

Thank you.

 

[JamesSmith]

With 1200 it will take some time. We did the conversion on one of our servers with 500 sites, it took about 2 hours to complete.

But it also depends how much they use e-mail and if they store e-mails on the server.

 

[chirpy]

Indeed. I've seen the conversion take from around a few minutes to 12 or more hours depending on the amount of email stored on the server. You do have to be very careful and allow the conversion process to complete. It doesn't log each mailbox conversion anymore and it may seem like it is done, but you should check the running processes and if /usr/local/cpanel/bin/convertmaildir is still running you need to wait until it completes. A handy way to monitor that is to use:

watch "ps axf | grep -v grep | grep mb2md"

Which will show you which mailbox it is currently working on.

 

[Un Area]

People cant check email when the conversion is running, isnt it?
Exim is modified after the conversion? I mean if some line is added to the exim.conf
What happens to cppop and uwimap at the whm restart services, these are modified by the courier ones?

Thanks

 

[chirpy]

During the conversion process all email, incoming or outgoing, is queued. Anyone trying to access their account will get a login failure until their particular account is converted. cppop and uwimap are stopped and disabled before the conversion on the mailbox data is started.

 

[mambovince]

Is the conversion safe nowadays, or anything we need to be aware of?
I remember someone mentioning that users may have problems logging into their email straight after conversion?

Thanks,

- Vince

 

[switchsites]

Hi Vince,

We just peformed the upgrade yesterday and these are our only issues so far:

-customers using IMAP must subscribe to their folders again.
-Horde is no longer available.
-the global login for an account can no longer access all email accounts on the domain (is there a way to get this feature back?).
-some customers using thunderbird have been getting an ssl error when attemtping to send email - all they have to do is remove the certificate entry for the domain/server from inside the security section of thunderbird.

Besides those issues the backup and conversion process went perfectly and only took an hour or two for 100~ accounts.

Dean

 

[mambovince]

Hi Dean, and thanks for the feedback.

But ... no more Horde?!!!

Also, what is the backup and conversion process you followed please?

Many thanks,

- Vince

 

[Un Area]

Switchsites or Chirpy what OS are you using when you did the conversion? We are running CentOS 4.4

Thanks!

 

[superiorhost]

Hi,
You should have Horde after the conversion.

It is Neomail that is removed...
Horde just looses the function to enter the default email address and check all mail for the domain.

It is a security setting. As well as neomail getting removed.

TiM L

 

[switchsites]

Hi Guys,

Sorry, yes Neomail goes not Horde (my mistake). We're running RHEL 3.

As for the conversion process just simply use run the /scripts/convert2maildir script and select backup mail then after that completes (which took two hours or so for us) it will take you back to a menu and you run the conversion process.

Chirpy's advice of running
watch "ps axf | grep -v grep | grep mb2md"
is good because the process seems to hang while it is converting all your emails from mbox to maildir so it is useful to see which account it is up to.

One thing I have noticed after the upgrade, and even after a STABLE cPanel upgrade te "Restart Services" option in WHM is still showing:

IMAP Server (uwimap)
Mail Server (Exim)
POP3 Server (cppop)

superiorhost: Do you know of a way to restore this feature in Horde? I know it is a security feature but several people find it very useful.

 

[mambovince]

As for the conversion process just simply use run the /scripts/convert2maildir script and select backup mail then after that completes (which took two hours or so for us) it will take you back to a menu and you run the conversion process.

... ... ...

superiorhost: Do you know of a way to restore this feature in Horde? I know it is a security feature but several people find it very useful.

Hey thanks.
So we don't have to worry about creating mail backups, as the start of the conversion process includes this option?

Many thanks,

- Vince

p.s. I can see some customers not being happy about the removal to view all mail boxes from main default account, as many site owners setup different addresses to help organise their communications.

 

[switchsites]

Hi Vince, yes, that is correct - there is no need to make your own backup.

And our biggest problem is exactly the one you describe as many people use multiple emails but like to check them easily from one account.

 

[fcsnc]

One thing I have noticed after the upgrade, and even after a STABLE cPanel upgrade te "Restart Services" option in WHM is still showing:

IMAP Server (uwimap)
Mail Server (Exim)
POP3 Server (cppop)

If true, that really needs to be fixed. Has anyone opened a ticket about it? I run STABLE for good reasons. Also, I can't open a ticket because I'm not a direct customer of cPanel.

 

[MaraBlue]

If true, that really needs to be fixed. Has anyone opened a ticket about it? I run STABLE for good reasons. Also, I can't open a ticket because I'm not a direct customer of cPanel.

I have the same thing on RELEASE 10.9.0-R95. I double checked to make sure Courier was really installed and running (it is and it is). I'll check to see if it's been reported in Bugzilla.

 

[SoftDux]

What is the advantage(s) of switching over?

 

[MaraBlue]

What is the advantage(s) of switching over?

One reason to switch:

http://www.courier-mta.org/mbox-vs-maildir/

More reasons can be found on these forums.

 

[SoftDux]

So, if it's so good, why doesn't cPanel implement it by default?

 

[MaraBlue]

So, if it's so good, why doesn't cPanel implement it by default?

That's pretty much a no-brainer.

cPanel basically *does*, but systems that were created under old methods need to be converted. You know, this newfangled thing call "technology", ever changing and all that.

 

[SoftDux]

Aah, ok. I didn't know that